[MINOR POWER POTION {LVL 2} 10x]
[MINOR SHIELD POTION {LVL 2} 10x]
[MINOR GIANT POTION {LVL 2} 10x]
POOF! A smoky red cloud exploded just above the parchment of the Alchemy Table, dissipating to his Ein's newly brewed potions. Well... brewed isn't the right word. Summoned was more accurate. still, he grabbed the floating potions out of the air and into his inventory. Really, he didn't think anything would beat the feeling of crafting items at nine AM in the morning. He even made a few more new potions.
[MINOR POISON ELIXIR {LVL 2}: {COST: 3x FOXGLOVE, 3x ANY GRIMM EYE}]
[QUALITY: HORRID (TIER 1)]
[STATS: INFLICTS STATUS: POISON II]
[DESCRIPTION: THIS PURPLE HUED ELIXIR FEELS DREADFUL TO TOUCH. THE FAVORED POTION OF ROOKIE ASSASSINS, WHO'S TARGETS USUALLY CONSISTED OF MERE PEASANTS, WHO HAD LITTLE TO NO RESISTANCE TO EVEN WEAK POISONS. IT WAS ALSO A GOOD WEAPON COATING IN COMBAT, BEING A MODERATELY POTENT POISON.]
[MINOR INSANITY ELIXIR {LVL 2}: {COST: 5x ANY GRIMM EYE, 1x AURORA HERB, 1x MUGWORT}]
[QUALITY: BAD (TIER 2)]
[STATS: DECREASES SANITY. INFLICTS STATUS: HALLUCINATING II] [DESCRIPTION: THIS EXTREMELY DARK RED POTION FEELS OMINOUS TO HOLD. THE BEGINNING OF A DARK ALCHEMIST'S PATH. DRANK BY APPRENTICE DARK ALCHEMISTS IN ORDER TO TAP INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE IMMORTAL QUEEN OF GRIMM. UPON CONTACT WITH OPEN AIR, IT TURNS INTO MIST, WHICH WHEN BREATHED IN, TEMPTS THE MIND AND PLAYS WITH ONE'S SANITY.]
Uncomfortable. Very unnerving. So much so that he didn't have it in himself to brew—craft more than three poison potions and a single insanity potion. Against the Grimm? Pshh—no. Against people? It would be amazing, if the effects are good enough. And he was not going to test it on himself.
It would be a really dumb way to die.
And in all honesty? He was hoping he would never have to come to that point.
With his potioneering business done, he decided to celebrate a little for his first week since arriving to Remnant. Even if, technically, I've only survived for five days straight, but whatever, semantics are stupid anyways.
[CLEAN DISINFECTED WATER 2000x]
[QUALITY: HORRID (TIER 1)]
[DESCRIPTION: WATER WHICH HAS BEEN BOILED IN A POT AND CLEARED OF DEBRIS. SAFE AND COMFORTABLE TO DRINK. USABLE FOR COOKING.]
With Ein's new river home, he could make his own water, with each unit of water being a milliliter. They floated just above his palm, like an orb of water. With the water, he could make an actual meal, not just meat cooked on an open fire.
Sure, the Cooking UI looked like a fancy little pot, but that didn't provide him with free broth or anything. He wanted soup? He'd have to get the water himself. He couldn't use any of the water from Domremy either, wanting to save it as his drinking water.
[MINERAL WATER 1000x]
[QUALITY: COMMON (TIER 3)]
[STATS: CURES STATUS: MALNUTRITION]
[DESCRIPTION: DRINKING WATER GATHERED FROM A SPRING. LOADED WITH MINERALS, THIS WATER IS AS NUTRITIOUS AS WATER CAN GET WITHOUT HOST ASSISTANCE.]
"Let's see..." He muttered to himself, taking a look at his options, now vastly expanded thanks to his water. Previously, the only thing he could to to make a meal was throw random pieces of meat into the pot and hoped it worked. Now... He had water and herbs. Real ingredients.
He still didn't have oil, which was a bummer, but he could work around that.
He took out all the meat and herbs he had in his inventory and—
"Eugh!" He reels, coughing from the smell. Did the meat seriously expire?! So, lesson learned. His hammerspace didn't have refrigeration. Thankfully, not all of it went bad. Just the Beowolf Meat he got from his first day on Remnant. Guess I should find a way to refrigerate my meats... He thought, storing the spoiled meat into his inventory to deal with it later.
Focusing back on his cooking, he decides that you know what, he wanted a bit of everything in this pot. Putting about a liter of water in the pot, he put three of every meat he had. Razorwing poultry, and a few good cuts of Alpha Beowolf, Alpha Creep, and Ursa Minor. He also put in a few random herbs in there for good measure. It was time to cook.
---
[HERBAL GRIMM HOTPOT 3x]
[QUALITY: BAD (TIER 2)]
[STATS: +2 STR, +3 DEX, +4 AGI FOR 1 HOUR]
[DESCRIPTION: A STEW WITH RANDOM BITS AND PIECES OF GRIMM MEAT. DEPENDING ON THE MEATS USED, THE STATS BUFFS CAN VARY. DEPENDING ON THE HERBS USED, THE DURATION CAN VARY]
Ein, of course, dug in.
The soup was... It wasn't flavorless, per se. But the lack of seasoning really shined through when the rest of the stew was actually fantastic.
The meaty bits crumbled in his mouth, each one having soaked in the flavors of the herbs turning each bite into a little explosion of flavor. The herbs themselves also added a subtle, but flavorful aftertaste. And this was only tier 2? Ein didn't consider himself a food connoisseur... But if just this was one of the least delicious foods the system could make for him... He might just have to become one.
[YOU CONSUMED x1 HERBAL GRIMM HOTPOT.]
[YOUR STATS HAVE BEEN TEMPORARILY BOOSTED FOR 1 HOUR]
[YOU ARE NOW (WELL FED)]
[YOU CANNOT EAT FOOD FOR ANOTHER 3 HOURS]
RING RING!
Ein's scroll began to buzz with an unfamiliar tune. A scroll call from a pre-registered number. Ein picks up the call. "Mister Arthur?"
The other side of the call was a chaotic mess of shouting, stomping, and crying. "Ein! Get over here, quick!" On the other side of the call was not Arthur, but instead Luna. "What the hell is happening over there?" Ein asked in a worry. "No time to explain! Just get over here!" There was no need to tell him twice. "Right!" He hung up the scroll and ran to Domremy as quickly as he could.
---
"What in the hell..." Ein snuck in from the back walls of the town, silently scaling the wall and sneaking away to Arthur's shop. Still, he took the chance to eavesdrop for a moment.
"You would be welcome here, but—" The mayor of Domremy said, attempting peace with the opposing side, but the ringleader, a masked Faunus with jet black stripe markings on his body and hooves for feet wielding a sickle interrupted him with a snarl. "We've already offered you so much mercy for being a filthy human. Either give this settlement to us, or we'll force you out."
"I thought the White Fang was a peaceful movement!" The mayor pleaded, only to be met with laughter from the goons. "White Fang? Oh, right! The White Fang! This must be why Luna sounded so panicked over the scroll!" Ein thought with a worried expression. The ringleader paused his laughter to respond to the mayor. "We were. But you filthy humans refused to see our message. We had to resort to more... unconventional protests."
Ein decided he heard enough, sneaking away to Arthur's shop.
"Kid. Over here." He heard hushed whispers from a familiar voice. "Mister Arthur!" He turned to face his mentor, having opened a secret backdoor. Ein made his way to him.
"What was that about?" Ein said, relieved he could finally talk out loud in the comforting confines of the shop. Inside were the other civilians, hiding away from the commotion outside, both Faunus and Humans alike... Although, the Faunus were definitely getting weird looks now. "Just take a look." Luna said, walking up from behind him and sticking her scroll in front of his face. A news broadcast.
"This just in! A few hours ago, the White Fang Faunus activist group's leader, Ghira Belladona, has stepped down from leadership! The new leader is mostly unknown, but reports of deserters say that her name is Sienna Khan! The movement has quickly changed tactics from peaceful protest to violent extremism! Just now," The news reporter moves to the side, revealing the burning bullhead behind her. The signage, despite its ruined state, could still be read. SDC Inc. "An SDC transport vehicle was shot down by a White Fang protestor! And we've gotten more news of—"
The feed was cut off by an explosion. "Oh shit." Ein said unconsciously. What else could he say to that? "I'd consider that an underreaction." Luna said, unusually serious for how she usually was. Ein took a look around. They were scared. Almost everyone here was, barring Luna, Arthur and him. How disheartening... He thought. Especially with—
"Get away from him, sweetheart..." A human mother pulled her daughter away from a horned faunus. The man flinched, his breath hitched, but he pulled away anyways, understanding.
"It's a surprise to me too." She whispered to Ein and Arthur. "That Ghira retired so late, I mean." Ein looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" It was Luna's turn now to look at Ein, eyebrow raised. "You haven't seen Volume 5?" Ein shakes his head. "Only until halfway through Volume 2." If the situation wasn't so dire, Luna would've counted him lucky for not witnessing the travesty that is Volume 4 through 9. "We're two years before the start of RWBY." She informed him. "How can you tell?" "Jaune's only sixteen by this point." Ein nodded his head. He did notice that Jaune felt really young. His voice was also slightly higher pitched than what he remembered from the show, so that checked out.
That meant two years to prepare for the start of canon. As they were? They wouldn't stand a chance. Even Ruby, sixteen by the time canon rolled around, was already fast enough to disappear and reappear on command, leaving only petals in her wake, still struggled against a normal, Tier 0 Nevermore.
"Still, what's so strange about it? And who's Sienna Khan?" Ein asked again. "Right. Ghira..." "Blake's dad, right?" Ein recognized the surname, if nothing else. "Yeah. If he retired just now, we should be five years before canon." Ein got what she was getting at. "And Jaune's age doesn't line up with the time frame." Luna nodded, her face showing anxiety. "Which means either RWBY's timeline is wrong or we're in an AU. Both of which would be terrible because our—or, well, my meta knowledge will be unreliable at best—" "Or useless at worst." Ein finished her sentence for her. That's... very not good. He thought, eyebrows furrowed at the implication.
"And Sienna Khan... She's the leader of the White Fang up until Volume 5 and the should've been successor three years ago. With her being put into power so late, I have no clue what could change."
"Alright, kids. Hold on a second." Arthur said, rubbing his head. "That's a whole lot of unfamiliar terms. Volume? RWBY? How do you know so much about some nobody?" The last question was directed specifically towards Luna. "Didn't I already—oh. Right." Ein completely forgot to mention the show to Arthur in this life. "She knows 'cause of this show from earth, RWBY. The only thing you really need to know is that it takes place in Remnant." Arthur nodded. A show taking place here, huh? "I see.. So that's what you're doing, Claire." Ein couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny?" Ein shakes his head. "I just found it funny. The fact that you said the exact same thing verbatim in my last rebirth."
"What Ein said. Sienna Khan's a character in the show... Though I guess, character would be a misnomer now. She didn't get much screentime or development at all for being the leader of a main antagonistic group, having died in the same volume she was introduced in." Luna's inner feelings came up, her confidence in her meta knowledge, now potentially skewed because of this development. She was only so confident because she thought the timeline would align. Now? that feeling of nervousness was coming up to bite her. Hell, the fact that Jaune has even encountered the White Fang now when in canon, he didn't so much as have a clue what they were even about and for unsettled her. The timeline she was so familiar with was already showing so much deviation, even if she's only been on remnant for two weeks. She pushes the thoughts down. There's no time for that. She thought, but she couldn't stop her hands from nervously fidgeting with her robe.
"Wait a second... where's Jaune?" The blonde had been suspiciously missing, Ein noticed as he looked around. Luna had no answer. She simply looked to the side regretfully. "He... Got captured." She points towards the window outside. "Zoom." Ein muttered to himself as Farsight took effect. Carefully adjusting his Farsight as to not repeat his previous mistake from yesterday. After a bit of searching, he saw it. Jaune, cuffed. Ein's lips curved into a scowl. "Judging by that reaction, you see them, right?" Ein simply nodded, turning off his Farsight.
It wasn't just Jaune. There were others too, who were captured. A few other girls trailed just behind Jaune. His sisters? There were adults as well. He recognized the store owner from his last visit. A miner, a guard, a smith. He recognized most of them to be the volunteer soldiers from their raid on the forest.
Ein felt his collar be grabbed, an angered voice shouted at him. "And my children, they wouldn't be out there being herded like animals!" It was Jaune's dad. Ein looked past him to see the rest of Jaune's family, looking at him and his fellow hosts with disdain, bitterness, or indifference. As the rest of the refugees took attention, he noticed that they too, felt the same.
"You were the one who convinced my boy to play hero and now look what he's done! He got himself taken hostage and used against us!" Arthur grabs Jacques' wrist gently. "Hey, knock it off, Arc." He said, trying to de-escalate. "You've got a part in this too, Arthur! You could've stopped this kid from giving my son some delusion of grandeur, but you didn't!"
Ein couldn't speak. He didn't know what to say. "I said... Knock it off—" "No..." The human mother from earlier, the one who pulled her child away from the Faunus interrupted Arthur. "That blacksmith... He's my brother. Jason was always a little meek before... Everything. But ever since that expedition, he's been telling stories, reading up on huntsmen, when before he never even so much as bothered—If we just waited for Vale to help us instead of so recklessly sending out a party," Her composure faltered, replaced with fury that Ein couldn't even say was misplaced, as she stomped towards Arthur—
SLAP!
And slapped him straight in the face. "He wouldn't be there, begging for his life!"
That riled up many of the other refugees, as they found themselves agreeing with her sentiment. Faunus or otherwise.
"If you just didn't—!"
"This is such a mess because of—!"
"You huntsmen are all the same—!"
Their words blended into each other, the cacophony of voices, despite being so loud, went in one ear and out the other for Ein. In the end, he did agree. It was kind of their fault, wasn't it?
"Now, hold on—!" Ein interrupts Luna. "No... They're... They're right." Ein couldn't bring it in himself to look up. He was afraid that he'd look in the eye of someone who's friend or family was one of those people, brave people, who took it in themselves to go out there.
Jacques was shocked that the boy would admit it so freely. So much so that his grip on Ein's collar loosened. Ein smiled bitterly. "It's because of our recklessness that the people out there tried to fight. We planted these... Ideas that they could be heroes. Normal citizens—" Ein turns his head to look outside just in time to see one of the grunts strike the mayor's cheek with the butt end of her machete. The mayor staggered back, holding his cheek, now bleeding from the force of her punch. "—without so much as training or aura could be heroes... Just because we gave them a taste, a possibility of being larger than life. We should've been stronger. Strong enough that we could've done it alone, without impacting the mindset of regular civilians... And for that... I'll pay." He pulls himself away from Jacques' grasp completely, and from his inventory, he pulled out a knife.
And aimed it at his throat.
"Next time, I'll be strong enough that this doesn't happen again." He disables his aura and plunges. Horrified gasps and shrieks erupted. "Ein—!"